May the Odds be in Favour of the Fallen
by TheEmberGirl
Summary: Half a century ago, the world was conquered and made into one nation named Panem. Now it is time for the 50th Hunger Games, a Quarter Quell. But what change in the rules is causing uprisings in the Districts after the tributes are reaped?
1. The Treaty of Treason

**The Treaty of Treason**

_Once there were many nations, but now Panem is the only nation. _

_Panem's origins trace back to a place named North America; the most powerful of the nations. But even the greatest face struggles. Almost a century ago, the entire world was wracked by droughts, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, and encroaching seas. Nations and even entire continents fell to these natural disasters._ _Brutal wars broke out as people fought for the few remaining resources,_ _the earth was scarred and desolate; the people, terrified and hopeless. Eventually peace was restored and North America headed a council of global governments. The world seemed to prosper again._

_Then came the Dark Days, protests from the other nations against the overarching rule of North America, protesting against the country that fed them, loved them, protected them. There were rebellions within North America itself, selfish rebels who believed their nation should keep its greatness to itself, rather than share its resources with the world. These rebels demanded their government to provide them with more food, rather than share it with other nations. They called themselves "Panem"; an ancient word for bread._

_The rebellions raged into a war. Terrible war. A global war, known during its course as the Third World War._ _This war left the world in tatters. Motherless children filled the streets. The entire globe torn asunder._

_After a long struggle in which many died, there came a hard-won peace. The rebellions in North America settled first. To show its consideration and willingness to co-operation with the rebels, our government took on their name; Panem. North America then became the Capitol and the first District. The once strong European nations of the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and Hungary were conquered next. They became our second District. After the defeat of their allies, the nations of East Asia; Taiwan, Japan and Korea surrendered peacefully and became our third District. Panem next conquered the North European nations of Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, they became our fourth District. With their defeat, the North European nations relinquished their claim over the Middle Eastern nations, which became our fifth District. With our new resources we overcame the Southern European nations of Spain, France and Italy, and made them our sixth District. Leading forces from District 3 and 5, Panem gained a crucial territory; Asiatic Russia, our seventh District. Our next victory was in a bloody battle against China, now our eighth district. From there we conquered the South East Asian nations of Thailand and Vietnam and their territories, which became our ninth District. Realising they were surrounded, the Eastern European nations of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and European Russia, and the Mediterranean nations of Greece, Turkey and their territories surrendered peacefully. They became our tenth and eleventh Districts. By this time the Neutral Countries of Switzerland and Liechtenstein finally acknowledged our sovereignty, we graciously integrated them into one of our favoured Districts; District 2. After a long siege, India finally fell, becoming our twelfth District. Panem was almost united, however District 13; once known as Australia continued to resist Panem and provided weapons to Panem's Districts in attempts to "liberate" them. To show our displeasure and to provide an example for the other Districts, District 13 was bombed and completely destroyed. Nothing shall rise out of their ashes._

_Twelve districts were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated. When the traitors were at last suppressed, we swore we would never allow such treason. Ever again!_

_Thus the Treaty of Treason was written and signed, providing us with new laws to live by, laws that would guarantee peace._

_As a yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never happen again, it was decreed that on the same day each year the districts must offer up as tributes one courageous young man and woman to fight in a pageant of honor, courage, and sacrifice: The Hunger Games._

_The twenty-four tributes are sent to an outdoor arena where they struggle to overcome both man and nature and triumph over the odds._

_Each year, the lone victor serves as a reminder of the Capitol's generosity and forgiveness._

_This year marks the 50__th__ anniversary of the Treaty of Treason; a Quarter Quell. _

_For this Quarter Quell ;_

_As a reminder that the young are not the only ones who must learn, the male and female tributes will be reaped between the ages of twelve and twenty-eight._

_This season is a time for repentance and a time for thanks._

_This is how we remember our past._

_This is how we safeguard our future._

* * *

to be continued...


	2. The Reapings-part 1

**A/N**

**TheEmberGirl: Hi, this is my newest fic and my first Hetalia fic. I'm collaborating with eclipsed flower to write this.**

******eclipsed flower**: Hullo. Do hope you enjoy this! It involved getting up. Early. In the morning. And writing. And backstory. So much backstory.

******eclipsed flower**: Thank you for sitting through that mysterious decriptionless prologue, and bear with us in these superlong and backstory filled reaping chapters.

**Both: Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own. I could wax poetic (is that how you say it) about the tragedy and horribleness, but I don't think anyone needs that, least of all me.**

* * *

**The Reapings-Part 1**

**America**

America stood in a massive crowd of people, rustling nervously around him. Normally he'd be able the slip away from the reapings, hating the fact that his people were being sent to their possible deaths while he could do nothing about it. He was the hero, for God's sake. Apparently, this year there'd been a change in the rules or something, America didn't know exactly what; he hadn't exactly been paying attention when the President announced the games. So here he was, standing in the tightly watched cordoned area with all the 12-18 year olds. America yawned, the reaping wasn't about to start anytime soon; people were still being escorted by Peacekeepers off the trains that took them from the various parts of the District that they came from. It'd taken America himself almost an hour to get here to the District centre and he'd been asleep for most of the ride.

Finally all the trains were empty, and the Mayor of District 1 stepped up onto the podium to read out the Treaty of Treason.

'_Once there were many nations, but now-'_

America tried to zone out, not only because the Treaty was long and boring, but also because it reminded him of his failure as a hero to stop Panem, who like the Confederacy, had appeared when half his people had a completely different mindset to him. Unlike the Confederacy though, Panem had not been defeated. America still remembered the day when Panem had somehow smuggled himself and his most trusted rebels into the White House and staged a coup. He'd then locked up America before posing as him against the rest of the rebels. America had escaped and ran to Canada, where he'd tried to resist Panem with his brother until the entire North American continent fell toPanem.

He'd then been cut off from the rest of the world, only hearing news when Panem announced the defeats and surrenders of the other nations. Then when Panem had almost conquered the entire globe, America had been knocked out by-_something-. _He'd woken up on an infirmary bed with no memory of who he was. The healer told him that the war had ended months ago and he'd slept right through. She then asked for his name. At the time he couldn't remember, but when his memories came back he discovered that his immortality was gone and realised that he needed to hide. He immediately gave the healer the alias he'd used when posing as a government official; Alfred F. Jones and took his leave. From then on he moved to different regions of the District every five years or so, lest anyone realise that he did not age. The other Nations were all dead, if they were still alive they would have contacted him somehow. They were all dead and America was the only one left.

The Mayor had finally reached the end of the Treaty.

'_-the male and female tributes will be reaped from between the ages of 12-28-'_

_12-28!_ America thought,_ That's why I'm in the cordoned off section, I could get reaped! _Before he hadtime to continue panicking, the blue haired, pink skinned Capitol representative stepped up to the glass balls to draw the names of the tributes.

'Ladies first,' she said through frosted gold lips, before drawing out a slip of paper.

'The female tribute for District 1 is Chelsea Talma!'

America watch the vaguely familiar girl shake as she was led towards the podium. He couldn't quite place where he'd seen her before...

'And the male tribute for District 1 is Matthew Williams!'

_Matthew Williams? _That name sounded a lot like Canada's alias. America craned his head to see the tribute and jolted back in shock. _That is Canada!_

Before he could really comprehend what he was doing, through a rush of adrenaline and a sharp spike of dangerous hope, America raised his hand.

'I volunteer!' He declared. 'I volunteer as tribute!'

The pink skinned lady smiled at him as he was escorted onto the podium.

'Name?'

'Alfred Jones.'

'This is the great thing about this Quarter Quell,' she announced. 'If you missed out in previous years, you can volunteer now.'

Looking at the girl next to him he realised why she looked so familiar.

'_Seychelles?' _He whispered.

Seychelles nodded.

'_The boy you volunteered for,' _Seychelles spoke in a tone just as quiet. '_That was Canada, wasn't it?'_

America nodded back.

_Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

**Switzerland**

The Mayor was reading the Treaty again, but Switzerland wasn't paying attention. Instead, he was rubbing the bullets in his pocket, bullets that he had stolen from the weapons factory he worked at. He wanted to be anywhere but here, waiting as children were reaped to kill or be killed. Every year his heart would beat faster as the female tribute was drawn, fearing it would be Liechtenstein, and occasionally his heart would skip a beat as a tribute looked too similar to his little sister. Then he would remember with a jolt that Liechtenstein was probably already dead, along with all the other Nations. Once, he'd held onto the faint hope that some of the others had survived, but that hope had gotten him nowhere. He knew exactly where he wanted to be; aiming a gun at Panem's heart, not that it'd do any good. Unlike him, Panem was still immortal, but it'd still feel good to know he'd shot Panem before he died. He really had nothing to live for anymore. Switzerland concentrated harder on the bullets, as that dreaded line of the Treaty was coming up. He heard it anyway.

'-_the Neutral Countries of Switzerland and Liechtenstein finally acknowledged our sovereignty.'_

He'd done no such thing, with nearly all of Europe conquered, Panem had shown up at Switzerland's doorstep with that condescending smirk of his, stating that he'd grant Switzerland peace for his neutrality throughout the war. Switzerland had been wary and did not trust Panem for a second, but Panem refused to take 'no' for an answer and threatened to hurt Liechtenstein until he agreed to Panem's terms. They were then integrated into District 2, not that it did any good. Switzerland lost consciousness when Panem bombed his house and when he woke up all he knew was he had to find Liechtenstein.

He never found her.

Later he regained his memory and found a job at a weapons factory and transferred factories every few years to continue his search for Liechtenstein and ensure his identity remained safe.

By now the Mayor had finished reading and the black suited Capitol representative was reaching into the glass ball containing the females' names.

'Ladies first.' he unfolded the paper. 'And this year's female tribute for District 2 is, Lili Zwingli!'

Switzerland froze. _Liechtenstein. _Protective instincts kicking in he raced in front of the Peacekeepers escorting his terrified sister to the stage.

'I volunteer as tribute!' he shouted.

The black suited representative looked amused.

'I'm sorry, but you can't volunteer for the opposite gender.' he said, not looking sorry at all.

'I volunteer as the male tribute then.' Switzerland snarled. The Capitol representative now looked confused.

'But I haven't drawn out the male tribute yet...' he finished weakly.

'Does it matter?' Switzerland asked with barely contained anger. 'I'm volunteering.'

'I guess it doesn't...' the representative was taken aback. 'Name?'

'Vash Zwingli.'

The black suited man's face contorted into a plastic smile.

'That was your sister wasn't it?'

'Yes.' Switzerland's tone was final.

_Panem, I have a bullet with your name on it._

* * *

**China**

The screens went black just as the Mayor of District 3 began to read the Treaty of Treason. The President had decided this year that the tributes would be shown to the other Districts so 'any potential volunteers would know what they were up against'. _That reaping probably didn't even happen on the same day, _China thought. District 3 was in a completely different time zone to Districts 1 and 2, but Panem created an illusion of unity between the Districts by having them by showing them a 'live' recap seemingly filmed moments before the reaping ceremony started in 3. To be honest, China was a bit shaken; the two pairs of tributes he had seen on the screen looked to be the splitting image of four of his fellow Nations. Seychelles, America, Liechtenstein and Switzerland to be exact. This year the age limit of the tribute had been raised to 28, and while China was now almost 5000 years old, he knew he looked like he was in his twenties. Shaking away, the idea of himself being reaped, China turned his attention back to the Mayor. And winced.

'_Our next victory was in a bloody battle against China, now our eighth district.' _

While it was true that his lands were now District 8, China himself resided in District 3, where he travelled around to avoid suspicion. During the Third World War, which Panem now called the Dark Days, America, or rather _Panem_, had declared war on the entire world. Japan had been one of Panem's first targets and China had immediately left his own country to help his younger brother. With too many of his people dying, and his allies in Europe being conquered, Japan had travelled to the Capitol to negotiate with Panem. He'd never returned.

China stayed to protect Japan's country and to help his other siblings. Soon Panem's army, the so called 'Peacekeepers' arrived and announced Japan's surrender and the creation of District 3. The Peacekeepers guarded all the borders of the District and China had no way to return to his own lands. China still wondered about the fate of Japan sometimes, as Japan, he knew would never have surrendered to Panem, not to those terms anyway.

The Mayor had reached the end of the Treaty.

'_This is how we remember our past-'_

_Yes, _China thought bitterly, _this _is _how we remember what that bastard Panem did to us._

The Capitol representative stepped onto the podium, China remembered her name was Cordelina Rose. This year her bright green hair was piled on top of her head in a cake-like structure. China bit back a sob as it reminded him of how Japan used to marvel at America's brightly coloured cakes. As she walked towards the glass balls, Cordelina Rose nearly tripped over due to her extreme heels and green skintight floor length gown, but she straightened herself up and gave an embarrassed smile through dark green lips.

'How about we start with the ladies then,' she said in a flustered tone, dipping green tipped fingers into the first ball.

'The female tribute for District 3 this year is Lin Yi Ling!'

_Isn't that Taiwan's alias? _China frantically searched the crowd and spotted the Peacekeepers leading a girl with long dark hair towards the stage. _It can't be! Not my mei mei! What do I do!?_

So caught up in his panic China completely missed the male tribute's name.

'Any volunteers?'

China snapped out of his panic and raised his hand.

'Yes. I volunteer.'

'Name?'

'Yao Wang.'

As the Peacekeepers escorted him towards the podium and Taiwan, China wondered what would happen to them and mentally cursed Panem.

_Curse you Panem, curse you, you evil bastard_.

* * *

**Finland**

_Were those tributes…Nations?_ Finland thought as she watched the male tribute for 3 volunteer, if she wasn't mistaken, then that said male tribute was China, and the female Taiwan. Finland shivered, she wished for any of the other Nordics to be with her now. Especially as the Mayor read out the dreaded Treaty. Every year she had to hide the tears that welled in her eyes as the line about the Northern European nations' defeat was read out, as she remember her now lost family and how they'd helped her make presents for all the children in the world. Oh, the children, how they needed presents now, instead of being reaped and sent into an arena of death. Panem had banned Christmas and any other celebration apart from the games. Even if he hadn't, Finland couldn't risk blowing her cover by flying around and giving gifts.

As the Mayor droned on in his monotone, Finland found herself reminiscing. She hadn't always been a she, but something had happened in the last weeks of the Third World War. All the Nordic lands had been conquered long before then, however Panem was still constantly shelling them to keep morale low and any thoughts of dissention away with fear. During these shellings she, then still a he, had returned to her own house and was separated from her family. She had no recollection of the end of the war only a sudden stabbing pain in her head before waking up in her ruined house, female, and with no memories.

As her memory returned in small moments of clarity, bringing pain and pain and loss with them, she began to suspect that it had to do with England and his rarely reliable magic. Any frustrated tears became wretched as she realised that she would probably never see him, or any of her family again.

But what she did know was that she was no longer immortal and needed to hide. So she took on the female cognitive of her government official alias and travelled the district searching for her family. She hadn't found them yet, but still had hope in her heart, despite her mind telling her all was lost. She was so deep in her reverie she had not noticed Capitol representative step onto the podium. She barely registered him announcing:

'The female tribute for District 4 is Tina Väinämöinen!'

_Me_? she thought. _It can't be, I'm over the age limit. _Then she remembered the age limit was had been changed this year.

'Tina Väinämöinen?' the flame haired, gold suited man asked.

'H-here,' Finland stammered, raising her hand. The Peacekeepers walked over to her and began to push her towards the podium.

Standing on the podium Finland watched teary eyed as the male tribute was drawn, but before he could read out the name, a tall blond man wearing glasses stepped out off the crowd.

'I volunteer as tribute,' he said in a familiar low voice, some of the consonants lost in his thick accent.

_Sweden?_

'Name?' the flame haired man asked?

'Berwald Oxenstierna.'

It was Sweden, after all. Sweden took his place beside her as the Capitol representative gushed at the cameras.

'_You recognised me?' _she whispered.

'_Of course,' _he replied.

Finland smiled at him through her tears.

_Once he terrified me, but we'll face these Games together._

* * *

**Japan**

Japan was watching the reapings within a crowd in the Capitol. He'd been in the Capitol since he tried to negotiate with Panem. Although he could had returned before his lands, plus those of South Korea, no; the only Korea now, and Taiwan were declared as District 3, he'd decided that he'd be of better use spying in the Capitol. Japan felt a pang of regret every time he remembered how China had asked him to return safely, and as soon as possible. _I'm sorry, Nii-san_, _but I can't leave until Panem has fallen_. _Besides, _he thought grimly, _China's probably dead by now_. Japan's eyes stung, but as always, he controlled his emotions. He couldn't afford to be caught now, not now that he'd wormed his way into Panem's inner circles. For the last few years Japan had made a name for himself as a brilliant programmer, and now he had been promoted to assistant Gamemaker, a position that many other programmers would give all their teeth for.

As the first tribute was reaped Japan was shocked; it was Seychelles, it seemed that not all the other Nations were dead after all. Then it became more astounding; Canada was reaped and America volunteered for him. He recognised District 2's tributes as well, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Japan's heart rate increased and his palms began to sweat as District 3's ceremony began. Just as he feared Taiwan was reaped, his sweet little sister Taiwan, but that wasn't all, as next China volunteered for the male tribute. _China_, Japan's throat constricted, he couldn't watch anymore feigning a sudden stomach ache, he rushed to the nearest bathroom, locked himself in a stall and attempted to compose himself. _I need to do something_, he thought. Then it came to him, if there were more Nations out there; more of them seeing this, it could start a rebellion.

But first, he needed to save his family, and any other Nation entered into the Games. To do that he would need to become Head Gamemaker, and for the first time in a century, Japan felt gleeful.

_Time to see if I still have some ninja moves._

Several hours later, a holographic image of President Snow appeared from the projector on Japan's desk.

'Gamemaker Honda?' Snow inquired.

President Snow, to what do I owe this honour?' Japan asked, faking surprise.

'Head Gamemaker Silk has become rather...' Snow sighed. 'Indisposed. We'll need another Head Gamemaker, and I find you are the most suitable for the job.'

'Thank you,' Japan replied. 'I will not fail you.' He felt sick saying those words to Panem's cruel puppet, but didn't show it until the hologram flickered out.

_It has begun, Panem. It has begun._

* * *

**TheEmberGirl: *Is shoved in front of the viewer by ********eclipsed flower*** Oh umm, hi. If you have any questions about the whole history of this fic, you can ask either of us by review or PM. *runs back and drags ******eclipsed flower** in as well*

**********eclipsed flower**: She is the brain of the operation (aka directing questions at her would probably yield better results). I am. I don't know what I am.

**TheEmberGirl: For update schedule, please check my profile**

**Both: Please review :3**


	3. The Reapings-part 2

**A/N**

**TheEmberGirl: We're back!**

**eclipsedflower: Thank you for all of your lovely encouragement so far!**

**TheEmberGirl: We've decide to reply to all our reviews;**

**To LemonYellowCoat: Thank you for the very encouraging first review! :)**

**To pinky5907: We make no promises, this is the Hunger Games after all**

**To zoewinter1: We'll try to live up to your expectations, but it'll be very hard, as Prussia is very awesome**

**To Face15: Thank you, we'll try to update as constantly as we can**

**eclipsedflower: And now a for a wonderfully witty and creative disclaimer that TheEmberGirl keeps on forgetting xD**

**Disclaimer: Insert wonderfully witty and creative disclaimer about the agonies of owning neither The Hunger Games nor Hetalia.**

**TheEmberGirl: Well, that why I keep her around (jks). This chapter may be in a different style to the last because eclipsed flower wrote it, and some parts of it may seem different to other parts because I butted in when I thought she was writing too slowly.**

**Both: Enjoy! **

* * *

**The Reapings-Part 2**

**England**

England's thick eyebrows rose to his hairline as he watched the man who looked much too like America to make him feel comfortable volunteer. He stood, frozen, as one after the other, people (nations, a tiny part of him dreaded, _hoped_) volunteered in the other districts. There were too many of them, all appearing on the screen one after the other and England didn't know what to think, how to think.

Except maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have to fight this battle alone any longer.

The crowd around him moved restlessly, and the multitudes of quiet conversations converged to create a tidal wave of sound before a loud screech made everyone jump. The Mayor of District five, a relatively stout looking fellow - no doubt from living off of the poor, exploited district members, England thought sourly, stood at the stand and tapped at the microphone.

The Mayor began to read the Treaty, and England suddenly was dragged into a flood of memories, memories tinged with guilt and shame. After the disasters, America had tried to fix everything by himself, England had the foresight to see that this could lead to his fall and set up an alliance of European powers to ease the strain. But it hadn't helped. America's government fell, and the world broke into war.

During the war, he along with Germany, Austria and Hungary had suffered the full brunt of Panem's attacks and succumbed to them. But they had not given up, before their countries fell, the four allies held a secret meeting and agreed to leave their own lands to help out any Nations in need. England remembered that meeting vividly; Germany had immediately wanted to help Italy, but England insisted that India needed more support, and Germany had reluctantly agreed. Austria and Hungary however, could not be dissuaded from staying together, so the two of them had both set of to China's lands, as China himself had left his home to aid Japan. England himself had travelled north, to aid the Nordics, but he had failed again. Panem set his eyes on the northern lands soon after, just before the last defences fell, the Nordics implored that he secure their last territory, the oil fields of the Middle East. England had immediately done that, arriving in District 2, he began to scope out the security around the oil fields that now belonged to District 5, fighting a one man battle, all the while knowing he would lose, yet again. He'd lost contact with all of his allies, his last missive from Hungary informed him that Austria had gone missing, sometime later he'd from heard Panem's morale draining announcements of China's fall. He'd tried not to succumb to misery, searching out the weak points in the security and attempting to exploit them. Finally England received news from Germany, it had not been good. Even with his help, it read, India was still falling. England was now desperate, he could not save America, he could not save his own country, he could not save the Nordics, but now he would do his best to save what was left of the world. He dug through his old spell books, attempting to find anything, anything at all that would help. One particularly old spell seemed promising, from what he could decipher from the ancient script; the script of his mother's, the spell would grant the caster immense power as any wish of their would be granted. Alternatively it could have been interpreted as changing the balance of the universe; but England had decided it meant the same thing and didn't think much of it. Disaster in the form of a random air raid, had struck while he was casting the spell. England had barely managed to complete the ritual before the pain from being showered with shrapnel caused him to black out.

England had finally woken up weeks later, memory less and a strange, hollow feeling in his heart. The Peacekeepers there had inspired an immediate, instinctive fear in him that he hadn't understood, and it took him two weeks of living off of the generosity of strangers, a scarcity during those times before remembering. He had felt sick to the core - he hadn't deserved their kindness; he had failed them, all of them. His fear of the Peacekeepers, he discovered, had been completely justified and he had immediately went into hiding. Even using magic, he could not detect any of his allies, or any Nation at all for that matter. They were all dead, and despite all his failings he was still alive, fate was surely laughing at him.

'And the female tribute for District 5 is Sophia Edelstein!'

England's head snapped up, he usually tried to avoid watching the reapings, he couldn't stand having to look at Panem's idea of justice, but the name of this tribute was just so very familiar. Muttering a spell to sharpen eyesight under his breath, England peered at the tribute, who appeared to look like a female Austria. Taking another look, England realised the resemblance was undeniable, this wasn't simply an Austria lookalike, she was after fifty years England could still see traces of his magic on her, indicating his spell was to blame for her situation. Guilt washed over him again, before he realised what he could do to atone for his failings. Tension filled his body as he waited for the male tribute to be reaped.

'Any volunteers?'

'I volunteer as tribute!'

'Name?'

'Arthur Kirkland.'

As he stepped onto the podium, despite the slightly disdainful glance of recognition Austria gave him, England felt the cloud of grief and guilt that had hung over him for the last fifty years start to lift.

_I will make up for my failings, just you see_

* * *

**Romano**

Romano's eyes squinted against the sun as she struggled to not breathe in the air around her, the fumes of District 6 an ever-present stink that she had never adjusted to. That Greedy Bastard Panem had ruined the air of her land (or was it France's or Spain's, she would never know through all her travels) and she hated him all the more for it. The crowd around her was hushed, eyes fixed on the holographic screens that were flickering unstably. The over-dressed people from the capital fiddled with the device and Romano folded her hands over her chest uncomfortably, the quiet around her unsettling. She didn't understand why she had been penned in with the rest of them, as she usually could pass for an adult (especially now with her assets, but she tried not to think about it).

Romano shifted, her folded arms reminding her of the extra appendages sticking out prominently on her chest. Fifty years, and she still hadn't adapted to them. Veneziano had always been the more effeminate of the two nations, so it didn't make sense that if one of the two of them were to lose the family jewels and get something else entirely different in return, it would be Romano. _You never know, _a voice said in her head, _both of you could be female now_. Romano immediately shook these thoughts away.

Thinking about her idiot of a brother brought pangs of worry to her chest. When the Potato Bastard had fallen, it felt like Veneziano himself had followed him. He'd been inconsolable and that had impeded on their defense against Panem. It wasn't until Potato Bastard number Two had called them to help with their strategy, (and to tell them that: 'West is fine, he's not in the so called District Two. He's gone off with Eyebrows, the Wuss and the Frying Pan-Wielding-She Demon to try and save the the world.') that he'd somewhat recovered and their efforts could begin again. Romano grudgingly had to the admit that Potato Bastard number Two had good strategies, with his help they'd begun to gain some ground against Panem. Then they'd lost contact with him and mass panic broke out, France and Spain feared for their friend, trapped in District 2, Veneziano shut down again as he lost his final connection with the stupid Potato Bastard. Romano himself did not care much about what happened to Potato Bastard number Two (after all, he didn't really have a place in the world), but after France and Spain lost it and fled for their capitals, he was forced to return to Rome while Veneziano ran to Venice.

The war had separated them, forced them to their respective regions and when the world lay in tatters around their feet, all conquered by the Greedy Bastard. Romano had been rendered powerless, unable to get in contact with his own brother, much less other nations (she still could not understand how Spain, tall, strong, infuriating Spain who had always had a smile ready for him Spain could have fallen beneath the stupid feet of Panem. It was incomprehensible).

Romano didn't even remember falling unconscious near the end. He had woken up as a she and her memories gone, wasn't aware of the abnormality until weeks of dreams (nightmares, glorified memories, really) brought back _Romano _the personality. She had let out a string of cussing that had scarred the ears of all those around her. Then she had proceeded to feel heartfelt empathy towards Ukraine. It had taken her a while to adjust to the changes potato bastard the second had instigated, having to readjust – starting off with a blank had helped. Fifty years of searching for Veneziano, Spain, even for the Wine Bastard France had yielded nothing. Romano had stayed in District 6 searching relentlessly and moving from place to place, her immortality gone and the fact she never aged now a curse that she had to hide.

Finally she'd just given up hope, then suddenly that changed.

The Capitol personnel had finally gotten the hologram to work, and Romano watched, dry-mouthed as nations, one by one showed up on the screen. Her nails dug into her hands, fists clenched tightly around her chest as little by little, she began to hope again. Disappointment filled her when the reapings of District Six ended with the English bastard and Austria who looked even more effeminate than usual. Romano's eyes stung (there was dust in them, _no she was not crying and even if she was, they were tears of hope and relief and finally, _finally_, the nations were going to be reunited again and just maybe, maybe Veneziano and Spain and- _having too much hope would only cause the disappointment to be more crushing).

The holographic screens flickered off and a cough from the dais caused the crowd move as a whole entity towards the sound. The mayor of the district, a weedy looking man gripped his speech on little cards in front of him tightly with bony fingers. His first attempt to speak was foiled by a piercing squeal from the microphone and Romano nearly swore out loud. The mayor was new and Romano had heard rumours that the old mayor had been forcibly removed from his post (from the world) for asking too many questions. The new mayor smiled nervously before he restarted.

The Treaty of Treason was long and filled with things that Romano hated to think about. She visibly flinched when the conquering of Italy and the formation of District Six was brought up in the new mayor's quaky voice and angrily gnashed her teeth. She hated that she had to stand and listen and not be able to do anything, invisible chains tying her down (they rattled loosely around her as she remembered the reapings of the previous districts and had to remind herself that hope, hope was good but probably useless).

The mayor was practically pushed to the side as a woman, her fluoro green lipstick and hair clashing horribly with her puffy red dress faintly reminiscent of an apple, shuffled her way onto the stage. She cleared her voice and smiled brightly.

'Now that's done, we can start the ever so exciting reapings! Aren't you all just giddy?!' She clapped her gloved hands happily.

Romano's lips twisted into a grimace at the display.

'We'll start off with the ladies.' The apple dipped her hands delicately into the glass bowl filled with death orders and carefully selected a piece of paper and unfolded it.

'The female tribute of District Six is…Lovina Vargas!'

Romano took a few seconds to process it (resisting the urge to yell that this was bullshit) before stiffly shoving around the crowd to get up to the stage.

The woman from the Capitol tried to place her hand on Romano's shoulder, but Romano slapped her hand away. Fluoro green lips formed a slight 'o' before shrugging it off, stepping towards the other glass bowl.

Romano saw the curl bobbing up and down in the frozen crowd before the owner of it spoke and her eyes widened impossibly and before she could stop what she knew would happen from happening (this scene seemed to be repeating in each district with the nations), Veneziano, tears already forming in his eyes spoke in a warbling voice.

'I v-volunteer as tribute!'

_The idiot_, Romano thought viciously.

The 'o' on the fluoro lips became more pronounced as she smiled sweetly down at Veneziano. 'What a turn of events. It appears that we have a male volunteer! What's your name?'

'Feliciano Vargas.'

'Vargas? Do we have a pair of siblings here? How utterly heartbreaking,' she breathed. 'Well, do come on up!'

Veneziano nearly tripped in his haste to get to Romano and Romano snorted softly, a smirk at the edges of her lips. Usually, Romano's stand-offish attitude would prevent her from doing so but she reached out and met Veneziano's outstretched hand.

Veneziano had always been too free with his emotions, tears flowed freely down his cheek as he clutched Romano's hands tightly, his familiar brown eyes reflecting relief, fear and happiness. Romano found comfort in the familiarity. The smile on Veneziano's was a little wild to be considered sane, but right now, Romano was just wrapped up in the moment as she turned slightly away from Veneziano, face warm.

_Hey, Greedy Bastard! Your stupid Games gave me my brother back._

* * *

**Belarus **

Belarus tapped her feet against the ground impatiently and blew sawdust off of her fingers. The handle of the axe that she had wrapped up underneath her skirt poked uncomfortably into her hip, but it was a welcome distraction. She had been unhappy to have been dragged into the crowd, but decided that causing a fuss would be too much trouble. Even if Belarus was reaped, her body was still stronger than that of the people around her. As much as the idea of a game of killing sounded interesting, she had her pride and it was one that didn't allow fools to commandeer her will and tell her who to kill.

The holographic screens flickered and Belarus flicked her eyes upward, watching disinterestedly until- _the American?_ Her eyes widened minutely as the tributes all revealed to be Nations, and her heart began to beat a little faster, nails digging into her palm. If _they_, some of the complete weaklings, were alive, why shouldn't her strong, handsome big brother (and future husband), still be alive. It's a statement, she's already convinced

The Mayor, a man with a dry reedy voice that made her want to snap his neck, stood up on the podium and began to read. The Treaty of Treason made Belarus's blood boil, it had never been her idea to surrender, if she had had it her way she would've rather have stopped breathing first rather than surrender. But Ukraine had begged and pleaded tearily for peace with Panem, too many of her people were dying, she said, and every death felt like a stab in the heart. Big Brother Russia, who'd had always had a soft side for that cry-baby Ukraine, agreed and sent them, along with the snivelling Baltics to the east side of his country while he stayed to negotiate with Panem. _Panem,_ that bastard had kept her away from her dearest Russia, and she thirsted for his blood, every time she swung her axe into a tree she would imagine it was Panem she was hitting. Her thoughts wandered back to Russia, she'd missed him while hiding out in Siberia with her sister and the Baltics.

So she wasn't there with him when he disappeared. Sometime after that, it could've been days, weeks, months - Belarus hadn't too concerned with keeping track of time after Brother went off the grid - there had been an explosion and she had woken up some place that resembled Siberia but at the same time was not. The grim, haunted expressions of the people around her seemed almost foreign, faintly reminiscent of the time when Brother was captured in the thrall of General Winter, she would later realize.

It took her close to one week for it all to come back, but she didn't let her listlessness get the better of her, because if anything, she believed in her brother's strength.

_Russia was big_, she had thought. _She would find her siblings eventually, even if it took a century._

The Mayor finally shut up, and was replaced on the podium by an equally detestable man.

'Ladies first!' he declared jovially.

The obnoxious glittery skinned, fur wrapped Capitol representative stuck his hand into the first glass ball, flashing his overly bright teeth as he read out the female tributes name.

'The female tribute of District 7 is...' Belarus tensed in anticipation, hoping it'd be her.

'Yekaterina Braginskaya!'

_Yekaterina Braginskaya_, that name was nearly as familiar as her own. Belarus scanned the crowd and saw she was right, it was Ukraine.

_No!_ Her mental voice hissed, part out of concern for her sister and part wanting herself to be the one broadcasted around the District, the one dear Big Brother would see and be proud of.

'I volunteer,' she proclaimed in a not loud, but steely strong voice. 'I want to be the tribute.'

'How, interesting.' the glittery man beamed. 'Name?'

'Natalia Arlovskaya.'

She held her head proudly as the Peacekeepers escorted her to the podium, imagining Russia smiling at her as she stared past the audience. Her face was a mask of calm disinterest as the male tribute was drawn, a mask which threaten to shatter in shock when a familiar boy volunteered. A sharp intake of breath was drawn before she regained control of her expression. _Lithuania, _she thought, _that idiot never knows when to leave me alone_.

'Name?' the obnoxious man was beaming again.

'Toris Laurinaitis.'

Belarus refused to look at Lithuania as he took his place beside her, instead she looked straight into the cameras.

_I will make you proud Big Brother, I will kill Panem for you._

* * *

**Hungary**

Hungary's fingers twitched, reaching for her non-existent frying pan. Even though she'd lost her trusty pan fifty years ago, she still reached for it out of habit every time someone or something annoyed or angered her. This time it was the latter, fury at Panem was surging through her veins. She as she'd been obliged to every year, watched as the reapings unfolded, her anger at Panem mulled after seeing this every year since his rise. Then she'd seen _them_, her fellow Nations, the ones she'd thought to be dead. First Seychelles and America in District 1, then sweet Liechtenstein and Switzerland in District 2. Followed by Taiwan and China-the one she'd been sent to help-in District 3 and Finland and Sweden in 4. She received a major shock when she saw District 5's female tribute.

_Austria_.

Even though he was now a female, Hungary still felt a pang of love and the desire to protect him, or rather as she should say; her. So infuriated she was at Panem for being the cause of her second separation from her ex-husband, that she almost missed viewing Romano and Italy, and Belarus and Lithuania, the tributes from 6 and 7 respectively.

As the screens blacked out and District 8's Mayor stood up and gave a little cough, Hungary thought back to how she and Austria had been separated.

The Third World War was still raging, and for once she and Austria had been allied with England. It was because of this alliance that they'd been sent to China, England had wanted Austria to aid the Italy brothers, but Hungary had insisted that they were not to split up. Never again, she'd said, not when they were to have remarried before the natural disasters struck, not when they'd still intended to after the war ended. So England had relented and both of them had ended up in China. However luck was still not in their favour, news of the fall of Spain, France and Italy soon reached their ears and Austria immediately blamed himself for not helping out his former ward. Despite all the words of comfort Hungary offered, Austria was inconsolable, he began looking distant of the time, he ate less and slept badly. Hungary had been extremely worried, the only way, she figured, to bring him back would be piano music, too bad that they didn't have access to a piano, being in China in the middle of a global conflict. On a particularly restless night for Austria, Hungary had fallen asleep while recounting how she had beaten up Prussia's entire army during the War of Austrian Succession, and when she woke up, Austria was nowhere to be seen. She'd searched for him for days, walking until her feet were blistered and calling out for him until her voice was hoarse. After a week, she realised that China's lands were huge and she'd probably walked in the opposite direction of Austria. With a heavy heart, she wrote a missive to England, informing him of Austria's disappearance, before broken-heartedly continuing to the defend China.

'_Twelve districts were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated._'

That line caused angry tears to slip out of Hungary's eyes, they indeed been defeated; physically, mentally and emotionally. A bitter defeat that Hungary remembered almost nothing of. Having been unable to defend China's lands sufficiently, Hungary was trapped within the new borders of District 8, so she travelled, still clinging to faint hope she would be reunited with Austria. It was during one of her travelled that she'd been struck with a piercing headache, which she consequently blacked out from. When she woke she had no idea who she was and why she was alone atop a mountain, while she stumbled her way to the nearest village she regained her memories of being a Nation and somehow knew, before she'd even asked a single villager, that Panem had won and she was no longer immortal. So she'd hid, occasionally working at textiles factories, desensitizing herself until there was no longer heartache, only numbness. She'd given up on ever seeing Austria again, until now.

Turning her attention back to the podium, Hungary saw the gold gowned Capitol representative draw out a slip of paper with a black nailed hand.

'This year's female tribute from District 8 is; Chenille Loom!'

Hungary saw the girl, who couldn't have been any older than twelve tremble as the Peacekeepers swarmed on her. That sealed her resolved.

'I volunteer as tribute!' she shouted breathlessly.

'Name?'

'Elizaveta Hedervary.'

The moments after that passed in a blur, she barely acknowledged the walk to the podium, barely heard the male tribute's name. She was only aware of her surroundings again when her vision focused on a familiar figure.

'Name?' the representative prompted.

'Feliks Łukasiewicz.'

_Poland_, heavens knew know he got here, but Hungary was glad all the same, glad he'd volunteered, glad she would not be going in without a fellow Nation. Giving Poland a hidden smile, Hungary realised the irony of her being that happiest she'd been in almost a century on the day of her reaping.

_Austria, I'm coming for you. No one will come between us again. Not even you, Panem._

* * *

**Estonia**

They were all Nations, all of them. Every single tribute Estonia had seen on the screen, among them some he counted as family. Estonia once again felt sick at his luxurious surroundings, and immediately fled the crowded square, running to wherever his legs were taking him.

He had first ended up in the Capitol when Ukraine, worried that Russia still had not returned, begged Estonia to travel to Panem's stronghold to find him. Estonia, having been on the receiving end of Ukraine's kindness many a time, could not refuse, especially not with Ukraine worrying about Belarus as well. He had soon discovered that Russia was not in the Capitol, either he'd already left or had never been there in the first place, he was about to depart from the Capitol when a display of some very intriguing new technology caught his eye. So Estonia had stayed in the Capitol, snooping around facilities and taking notes on every device and machine he examined. Recently using his compilation of notes, Estonia had gotten himself a job as a programmer.

Estonia snapped back into the present as he realised where he'd run to, and an idea suddenly formed in his head. Rapping on the door in front of him, he demanded to see the Head Gamemaker.

A suspicious looking secretary opened the door.

'What business would you have with Head Gamemaker Silk, even if you did Silk's-,' he was cut off by a familiar voice.

'Let him in,' the voice said quietly. 'I do have business to speak to him about.'

Estonia suddenly felt uneasy, had he been discovered? Gulping, he had no choice but to walk through the door when the secretary stepped out of the way. Instantaneous relief filled him, instead of Panem as he'd been expecting he was greeted by the view of Japan.

'This is Eduard von Bock, my former colleague,' Japan informed the secretary. 'His programming skills are as good, if not better than mine.

'Mr von Bock and I have a lot to discuss,' Japan continued. 'As this is top secret information about the Games, I must ask you to leave us.'

The secretary nodded and left the office.

'What were you thinking?' Japan hissed as soon as the secretary had left. 'Barging into the Gamemaker's Quarters like that? If I hadn't been the one in this office, you could have been caught!'

'I guess I wasn't thinking,' Estonia said sheepishly. 'But after seeing the reapings...'

Japan's tone softened:

'It's okay, I know what you felt. We both know a lot about technology, and now that I've dealt with Silk, you can be my Assistant Gamemaker and together we can try to save them all.'

'What happened to Silk anyway?' Estonia asked, curious.

'It's doesn't matter,' Japan said while attempting to hide a smirk. 'What does matter is that _we're _the Gamemakers now. Are you in or not?'

Estonia looked at all the equipment surrounding them and grinned.

'I'm in.'

_This year's Hunger Games, will be the most memorable. Ever._

* * *

**eclipsedflower: And that's the end of the second chapter!**

**TheEmberGirl: Please give us feedback on whether everyone's in character, and if all the backstory is getting repetitive.**

**Both: Please review! :)**


	4. The Reapings-part 3

**A/N**

**eclipsedflower: Welcome back and glad you're still reading ;3**

**TheEmberGirl: This chapter was written by me, and if Germany's POV seems a bit angsty, it's because I wrote it at midnight while playing Einsamkeit on loop.**

**eclipsedflower: And now for a review reply~!**

**To zoewinter1: Haha, that's certainly one way to put it xD**

******TheEmberGirl: I drew some art for this fic, you can find it on my deviantArt, I have the same username on there, but if you can't find me, there's a **link on my profile.

**Oh and eclispedflower and I don't own Hetalia, if we did Australia would show up a lot more. **

**See I didn't forget this time**

******Both: Enjoy!**

* * *

**The Reapings-Part 3**

**Vietnam**

Thailand had noticed them first, standing next to her in the crowd he'd pointed out the tributes on the screens as Nations. Vietnam had shaken her head disbelievingly at first, bitterly blaming Thailand's optimism. He'd insisted that she take a second look, so she did and was surprised to see that the tributes were, in fact, Nations. She turned back to Thailand.

'You know what this means right?' She whispered to him.

'We volunteer?' Thailand asked, his kind and jovial eyes uncharacteristically serious.

'We volunteer,' Vietnam confirmed in a tone just as serious.

Bitterness filled Vietnam once again as District 9's ageing Mayor begin reading the Treaty of Treason, she remembered every detail of the Treaty clearly. First the natural disasters which had caused a drought in her lands, she'd nearly starved, but Thailand who'd been spared from the worst of the drought had sent her aid and saved her country from collapsing. They'd been the lucky ones, she and Thailand. Indonesia and the other Nations of Southeast Asia had suffered from widespread flooding instead. Their governments had collapsed and they had perished. After the worldwide disasters ended, America had emerged as the most well off of all the Nations and put himself; 'the hero', in charge of global affairs. He'd come up with a system in which every country pooled together their spare resources and distributed it to the ones most in need. America had also distributed now ungoverned land to other countries as territories. Between the two of them Vietnam and Thailand had been given control of the whole of Southeast Asia. The system had worked for almost a decade, but as time went on people became increasingly dubious about America's control over the system, claiming they were receiving the shorter straw. As the global economies almost fully recovered, many governments also saw no point in continuing to follow America's. The riots and protests had risen up to such a point, that a World Conference had been arranged to discuss the issue. The Conference had never happened, America himself had also had an internal crisis, and his country has emerged from it as Panem, who immediately declared war on the world. Panem had concentrated his forces on the European Alliance, knocking them out of the war first and taking their resources to allow him to conquering the rest of the world part by part.

'_From there we conquered the South East Asian nations of Thailand and Vietnam and their territories, which became our ninth District._'

Southeast Asia had been one of the last regions to fall. They'd held on fiercely, their honour forcing them to fight to the end rather than surrender. In the end the sheer number of Peacekeepers overpowered them and they were forced to hide in their own territory. At first Vietnam had wanted to fend for herself rather than stick together, but Thailand's argument that there was strength in numbers had convinced her not to. So they had stayed together, silently observing as the final countries fell to Panem, desperately wanting to help, but knowing nothing they did would do any good. Vietnam had considered going her separate way many times, but something about Thailand's sunny nature kept her from leaving. They'd even stayed together throughout a bomb blast that had knocked them unconscious for days and left them without memories for weeks. But even with no recollection of their own selves, they'd innately recognised each other and helped each other regain their memories. After that Vietnam no longer wanted to be by herself, the bond she and Thailand had was unbreakable, forged by fire through famine, war and fear. They'd been through a lot together and now they would enter the arena together.

The Capitol representative; a thin man dressed in entirely in silver walked towards the glass balls contains the females' names.

'Ladies first,' he said, with a smile that revealed his teeth were also silver. He drew out a single slip of white paper.

'The female tribute from District 9 this year is; Paddy Rice!'

The girl was led up onto the stage before the representative asked for volunteers.

Vietnam immediately spoke up:

'I volunteer as tribute!'

'Very good. Name?'

'Minh Phuong.'

As soon as she'd been escorted to the podium, Vietnam immediately looked towards where she'd been standing. Sure enough, Thailand was still there, noticing her gaze, he gave Vietnam a reassuring nod.

The silver man drew out the second piece of paper.

'The male tribute from District 9 this year is; Sorghum Seed.'

Once again the representative asked for tributes, and was delighted when Thailand came forward.

'Two District 9 volunteers! How marvelous! Name?'

'Kasem Chao'

Reassurance settled over Vietnam as Thailand stood next to her.

_We're coming Panem, watch out._

* * *

**Russia**

Those pesky reapings were taking place again, and for some reason Russia had been herded into the cordoned area with the children. _The silly Peacekeepers made a little mistake_, he thought, reaching instinctively into his jacket for his pipe. A pipe that, as his fingers grasped empty air, he remembered he'd lost fifty years ago. Pulling his hands back out of his jacket, Russia's attention was soon captured by a group of yellow feathered chickens on a nearby farm, he noted how warm they looked and how their fluffy feathers reminded him of sunflowers.

Then something, some_one_ really, caught the corner of his eye.

Russia turned, and saw that the screens next to the podium had been switched on. Looking out from the screen was the dirty blond, self proclaimed hero, who had antagonised Russia on multiple occasions. _Amerika_.

Russia still remembered when _Ame-_, no, it was _Panem_ who'd declared war on the world. He remembered feeling vindicated, as everyone had always feared it would've been him. Then he'd received a call from Kanada, who he'd always been on good terms with, telling him about the internal crisis in America's land and the emergence of Panem. At first Russia had found the news amusing, Amerika deserved to be knocked down a few pegs, did he not? Later he regretted some of his earlier glee, when Panem turned out to be a more formidable enemy than Amerika ever was. Amerika tried to be a hero at all times, but Panem was completely ruthless and even more arrogant than Amerika in his ruthlessness.

Russia stopped reminiscing as another face filled the screen, short blonde hair framed the kind but tearful face of the woman who'd just been reaped. _Big Sister. Ukraina. _Rage filled Russia, he wanted to yell and tear all the Peacekeepers around him to pieces, when something else happen another woman with long silvery hair and beautiful but cold features, stepped up to volunteer. _Little Sister._ _Belarus_. It'd been so long since he'd seen either of his sisters, and he missed them so very much, right now Russia didn't care if seeing Belarus meant dealing with her marriage proposals. His family was all that mattered. Ukraina, who he'd tried to broker a peace with Panem for, Belarus, who'd just volunteered in place of Ukraina and his little Baltiya as well.

The male volunteer was familiar as well, chin length brown hair and frightened expression, _ah, Litva. _Who knew he could be that brave, Russia smiled to himself. With Amerika, Ukraina, Belarus and Litva as tributes for the games, Russia decided to watch carefully for more Nations. To his surprise there were more_.Vengriya. Pol'sha. V'yetnam. Tailand. _

As the screens cut off the short balding mayor begin to read _that._

_The Treaty of Treason. _It made Russia's blood boil, he'd signed many treaties and none of them sounded like that.

Aided by seeing the faces of his own kind, Russia again began to think back to when he fought Panem.

Russia hadn't taken Panem seriously, he didn't take Amerika seriously, so why should he have taken someone who'd split from Amerika seriously. But Panem, as Amerika would say it, was the darker version. Russia himself had begun to worry when Panem took down the European Alliance (though at first, he'd thought they deserved it, they can't call themselves the European Alliance without including Russia, _da?_), but he and his sisters had continued to fight on despite Panem's forces getting stronger with each attack. Then Japan had surrendered to Panem and the attacks became more frequent, that was when Ukraina couldn't take it anymore, and begged him to negociate with Panem. Russia had agreed, for since when could he deny his Big Sister anything, sent his family to hide in Siberia, and travelled to Panem's capitol; what used to be Kanada's lands.

Panem's peace terms showed the full extent of how arrogant and desperate to humiliate the other Nations he was. Russia immediately refused, while mentally apologising to Ukraina, before returning to his own capital to continue the fight. It was no use, he'd fought as hard as he could but the eastern side of his lands was taken, _the side his family was in._ After that Panem himself came to see him.

Panem gave him an ultimatum, surrender peacefully and unconditionally or see to deaths of his family. Russia had wanted to rip out Panem's throat then and there, but with all the land Panem had gained, he was now undoubtedly stronger than Russia, and with his family at risk Russia had no choice but to agree.

It seemed that Panem's ideas of peace were different to everyone else, as after a year of constant morale draining shelling, as though he'd forgotten it in the beginning, or just out of spite, Panem brought out his nuclear weapons.

Moscow was hit with the strongest weapon in Panem's arsenal, the blast knocked out Russia and he awoke with no memories and not a living soul around him. He only knew he had to leave the strange white..._snow? _that surrounded him. When he regained his memories he found out why, he was no longer immortal and would have died if he'd stayed any longer in the ruins of Moscow. So he'd travelled east, hoping to find his family only to be disappointed to find the border with District 7 fenced with barbed wire and crawling with Peacekeepers. So he'd traveled, not wanting to stay in memory filled places for long periods of time.

Coming back to the present, Russia noticed that the leopard spotted Capitol Representative was already drawing the first tribute, and all the people around him had inched back noticeably. Before he could fully process this, the leopard man called out the first name:

'The female tribute for District 10 this year is Inessa Galante!'

_Latviya? Was Latviya always a girl? _Russia pondered while watching the shaking Baltic climb onto the podium. _I should go ask him._

Russia pushed his way through the crowd and towards the podium. Leopard Man noticed him.

'Ooh, do we have a volunteer? What's your name?'

_Name? Why does he want to know?_ _I just want to talk to Latviya. But if I get to talk to Latviya…_

'I'm Ivan Braginski,' Russia gave his alias while smiling at Leopard Man. Leopard Man smiled back and told him to stand next to Latviya, who looked even more terrified. It then occurred to Russia that he'd just volunteered for the games. It didn't really matter though, he'd see Belarus and Litva as well as have Panem in his killing range.

_After all, everyone is supposed to become one with Russia, not Panem._

* * *

**Greece**

Greece yawned, he missed his cats, all of his original ones been killed during the war with Panem, and he wasn't allowed to bring the cats guarding the orchards to the reaping. He wasn't sure why he'd been entered into this reaping, but he did hear something about a change in the age limit before he fell asleep watching the Quarter Quell announcement. Either way it meant he was away from his precious cats and the warm dappled shade of the orchards._ Orchards...So peaceful...Quiet...hmm._

Greece was woken up by District 11's Mayor reading the Treaty of Treason, this caused him to frown a little, the Treaty made it sound like the other nations had started the war, when in fact it was Panem. Greece remembered the Third World War clearly, at that time, with the immediate danger to his lands, he was the most awake he'd ever been since his wars with Turkey, _though at that time Turkey was the Ottoman Empire…_ He'd had to work with Turkey during the war, and it had been rather strenuous, years of grudges and embitterment couldn't be fixed overnight. Luckily for the two of them, Romania would step in between the two of them and remind them their true enemy was Panem whenever their bickering got out of control. Fighting by conventional means was hard when the main alliance, the _only_ alliance they could turn to for help was conquered first and all around them countries were falling to Panem. They were one of the last to fall due to Romania's magical defenses.

Not that Romania's spells worked all the time, sometime before the European Alliance fell Belgium and Monaco arrived looking for Romania. They wanted his help against Panem, saying that Panem; confident of victory, was himself in Europe, and therefore within Romania's magical range. Romania had agreed to directly curse Panem and had Belgium and Monaco stand in a circle with him. However before he could complete the spell there was a bomb raid that caused the circle to explode. When Greece found them unconscious several hours later, Monaco was missing. Greece had woke up Romania and asked him if Belgium was dead, Romania reviewed his spell, shook his head and told Greece that Monaco had been transported, but to where he did not know. Soon after, news of the European Alliance's fall reached them and the formation of District 2 reached them and Belgium had no choice but to stay with them.

The European Alliance fallen, there was little standing between them and Panem. Their little band of nations did what they could to help and defend each other, but with no idea where Monaco was and resources stretched thin, they had no choice but to abandon any ideas of searching for her and could only hope that she would find her way back in the war-torn land. Romania had over-worked himself, trying to save them all, and as his lands were attacked and ravaged by Panem's overwhelming forces, his magical power began to diminish too. But they kept on fighting, refusing to accept the reality that they were _losing_.

It was Turkey, of all people who had decided that enough was enough, and that if they went on long enough, the damage would be irrevocable. Greece had instinctively wanted to object out of the pure reasoning that it was _Turkey,_ but Romania, as powerless as he had become, quickly picked up on Greece's ire and narrowed his eyes at him.

Greece had agreed with his ridiculous plan of surrender stiffly (it had involved Romania's lingering magical power and a very creatively worded letter, which once opened would rant at Panem in Romania's voice). He was uncomfortable with the idea of giving up, something his mother has taught, but Greece had been driven to the point where he just wanted to curl up beside the mass burial site of his cats and take a never-ending nap. War didn't allow for breaks, especially when you were on the losing side.

Greece hadn't known what to do with himself when they surrendered, each country of their alliance retreating back to their territories. He had went to sleep in Athens sometime after their 'white flag', the world around him in shambles (it could have been worse, they could have destroyed Athens, his heart) and woken up in shambles. Memoryless, he had wandered through foreign, yet familiar lands until he regained a semblance of understanding. The remembering was gradual but horrific as he lived through his life twice through dreams and realised, they had, in fact destroyed his heart while he slept. He wandered through District 11, through the remnants of his? Turkey's? Romania's?(he really didn't know) land, settling for brief amounts of time in different areas before leaving (but somehow always with an extra cat or two), careful not to let his quasi-immortality show.

The name 'Belle Philippe' brought Greece out of his trance. His head moved up quickly enough that the cricks in his neck cracked audibly.

_Belgium?! _

It seemed that while he hadn't been paying attention, the female tribute had been reaped. Greece stared at her, as he had not seen a fellow Nation in a very long time, and noticed that her usual smile (which reminded him of his cats) was missing and she was biting her bottom lip worriedly, eyes darting around from the crowds in front of her to the screens frozen on- _Russia and Latvia?_

'...is Heracles Karpusi!'

It took a moment for Greece to realize that he had been called, _reaped,_ he found and he slowly slipped through the crowd that began to part around him. Belgium was looking through the crowd rapidly, before catching sight of him and the relief in her eyes was startling. By the time he reached the top of the stage, Belgium's catlike smile was back in full force.

As he slouched against the sun's glare, he wondered idly if the nice old woman at the orchard might come to see him off.

_Maybe she'll bring the cats, and after this is over, maybe I can keep them._

* * *

**Germany**

_Seychelles. Canada. America. Liechtenstein. Switzerland. Taiwan. China. Finland. Sweden. Austria. England. Romano...Italy!?_

Germany had managed to keep calm while watching the other tributes on the screens, even when he saw Liechtenstein and Switzerland, and two other members of European Alliance; Austria and England, but seeing Italy, one of the only close friends he had, actually _volunteering _sent him into a panic.

_What is he doing? I shouldn't have agreed with England and gone to help him instead… _

Germany forced himself to stop panicking, it wouldn't help anybody and would only cause him to give himself away. He turned his focus back to the screens.

_Lithuania. Hungary. Poland. Vietnam. Thailand. Latvia. Russia. Belgium. Greece._ All Nations, every one of the tributes (and some of the would be tributes). Germany noticed that his fists had been clenched since he saw Hungary; the final member of the Alliance. He unclenched them only to clench them again as the screens flickered out and Mayor Undersee stepped up to read the Treaty of Treason. The Mayor was not a bad man, he didn't think himself above the other citizens and was always visiting some mine or other and asking if the workers had any concerns or complaints, causing him to have a good reputation in the District. According to the District gossip, the Mayor had once said, that despite District 12 being the most looked down on District, he would make its living standards the best he could.

Despite doing his best not to hear the dreaded line, Germany heard it anyway.

'_The once strong European nations of the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and Hungary were conquered next. They became our second District._'

The European Alliance, the alliance created to prevent the balance of power in the world being held solely by America. The alliance Panem threw all his might against when he declared war on the world. Germany remembered when England had invited him, Austria and Hungary to a secret meeting. They'd been apprehensive, as they'd never really had much to do with England (apart from Austria, but that had been several centuries earlier), but when England offered up the idea of an alliance they'd all agreed for various reasons. Austria and Hungary had wanted to get remarried for several decades, but there was always someone opposing the remarriage at every World Conference it was brought up in, and if they joined a powerful alliance, no one would oppose them then. Germany himself had agreed so he could better help the rest of the world. Prussia hadn't been invited, but when Germany asked if he wanted to join, he'd refused. Telling his younger brother that he 'just knew this alliance would run around the world like headless chickens trying to save everyone.' and that he'd 'rather stay here and look after the house for you while you're doing that.'

Thinking of Prussia made Germany's eyes sting. During the war with Panem, Prussia prefered to keep contact with France and Spain rather than actively work with the Alliance. He regretted not spending more time with Prussia then, and not saying a proper goodbye before leaving for his failed mission in India. They'd both been too busy then, but thinking back now, what did that matter when their closest family was each other. Even after seeing all the other Nations, Germany still felt so _alone_. While there were other Nations out there, they were unreachable; tributes in other Districts.

The European Alliance's bitter struggle had bought the world a little over two years, but in the end they were no match against Panem's nuclear weapons. Weakened by the destruction of multiple cities, they were eventually overwhelmed by Panem's forces. England had already thought out a contingency plan and by the time their countries fell, the members of the European Alliance had already left for Scandinavia, China and India respectively.

Germany did so with a heavy heart; he'd desperately wanted to help Italy but agreed with England in the end. He'd also heard worrying news about Japan's possible surrender while travelling to India, but could do nothing about it, all he could do was attempt to succeed in his mission and ensure that one part of the world, at least, was safe from Panem. It'd seemed easy at first, India was easy to work with and they easily defeated all the the forces Panem sent at them. It wasn't until later that Germany realised that Panem had simply been concentrating his forces on other fronts at that time.

Around a year later Germany received news from England that the Nordics had been defeated, but he would try to retake the Middle Eastern oil fields to remove Panem's newest advantage. It hadn't happened. Panem's forces, now ironically called "Peacekeepers" only got stronger. Within another year the defences he and India had so carefully built up crumbling, Germany had no choice but to report to England that his mission was failing. Merely weeks after that report was sent, New Delhi was surrounded by Peacekeepers, then bombed, and in the chaos Germany lost sight of India. But he had no time to worry for him as he felt a stabbing pain in his own heart that informed him that his capital; Berlin, was being bombed as well, and Germany blacked out soon after.

Waking up with no memories was an odd experience, especially when it was in a country you instinctively know was not your own. After recovering his memories, Germany realised he was no longer immortal, possibly due to the fact that his capital had been bombed. He also came to the conclusion that all the capitals had been bombed at the same time as New Delhi and Berlin and seeing as he hadn't seen India since, all the other Nations had perished. By some bizarre twist of fate, Germany had somehow survived and was once again alone. He saw no option but to try and fit in, working at one mine then another to hide the fact he never aged, and no questions were ever asked of him as the mines never had enough workers to fulfil the Capitol's ever increasing demands.

And now due to the Quarter Quell, Germany was here, in the cordoned off area reserved for potential tributes.

_I could always volunteer_, he thought, _it's not like I have anything to live for here_.

Poppea Hart, the Capitol Representative known for her almost incomprehensible babble, giggled something about Quarter Quells and excitement before dipping a daintily gloved hand into the glass bowl containing the female names and pulling out a slip.

'The female tribute for District 12 is Manon Grimaldi!' Poppea proclaimed, before reaching into the male's bowl. Germany didn't hear the name of the tribute as he was staring at the female tribute in shock. For there was no way for her, no reason why for her, to be here. The tribute was Monaco.

'Any volunteers for Haymitch Abernathy?' These words barely registered to the still baffled Germany. Poppea Hart was about to announce there were no volunteers, when Germany finally realised what she'd said.

'I volunteer!' He shouted, knowing this would be his only chance to see the other Nations.

It was Poppea's turn to stare in shock, in the history of the Hunger Games, District 12 had never had any volunteers. She quickly recovered and said.

'Very nice. Ladies and gentlemen, we have our very first tribute from District 12! Now what's your name?'

'Ludwig Beilschmidt.' Germany did the same thing as every other tribute by giving his government alias.

The Peacekeepers escorted him to the podium where a beaming Poppea asked him what made him volunteer. Distracted by the idea of seeing Italy, the European Alliance members and just other Nations in general, Germany replied:

'It was about time somebody did.'

_Panem...trying to conquer the world never ends well._

* * *

**Unknown**

Two men sat in a dimly lit room that was grubby but neat, the taller man, who'd just come into the room carrying a mug of murky liquid, had sprawled on the couch annoyingly close to the other one.

'So did you manage to fix the tv?' he asked. The shorter man winced a little at his loud tone.

'I tweaked a few of the wires,' he replied in a much quieter tone. 'Why don't you try turning it on.'

After searching a while for the remote (moving a single worn down cushion really), the taller man groaned as he got off the couch to manually turn the television on. The other man rolled his eyes at the former, before picking up a book. Seconds later he heard the sound of the television turning on and a mug smashing again the ground, he closed his book and was about tell the other man off for being clumsy, when said man moved from in front of the screen to reveal the 24 tributes reaped into the Hunger Games. The shorter man could only stare at the familiar faces.

'They're all Nations,' the taller man stated hoarsely, echoing the other man's thoughts.

The two shared a meaningful look, both fully aware of the possibilities that could be drawn from this.

_Maybe, just maybe this is enough to start a revolution._

* * *

**TheEmberGirl: *cough* I believe eclipsedflower has something to tell everyone**

**eclipsedflower: My laptop has decided to abandon me in my time of need, so it is sadly accurate to say that I am laptopless and but a shell of myself *insert dramatic sobs***

**TheEmberGirl: Therefore if eclipsedflower doesn't get her laptop back by next week, we may have to change the updating schedule to every two weeks, or even more as school is starting this Friday.**

**Anyways is _Unknown _intriguing you? We'll tell you what's going on there in the next chapter...or not. Muhahahahaha. You'll just have to wait and see.**

**Both: Review, da? ^J^**


	5. Reunions of sorts

**A/N**

**TheEmberGirl: Thanks to a combination of free periods and school computers we have managed to finish this latest chapter (albeit a day late)**

**eclipsed flower: But finished is finished, so all is good ;3 What's even better is the whole load of dialogue that TheEmberGirl managed to slot in for this chapter!**

**TheEmberGirl: I forgot to add notes on the previous chapter so I'll put them here**

**Human Aliases**

**Most of the are the commonly used ones, but for Seychelles, ****Vietnam****, ****Belgium ****and Monaco we made up our own (slightly punny) ones.**

**Seychelles-Chelsea Talma, not sure where eclipsed flower got her last name from, but it saved Seychelles from being called Chelsea Shells.**

**Vietnam-Minh Phuong, Minh being the name of a Vietnamese bakery near my house and Phuong meaning phoenix, which we thought was fitting**

**Belgium-Belle Philippe, Philippe being the name of the current king of Belgium**

**Monaco-Manon Grimaldi, Grimaldi being the name of Monaco's ruling house.**

**Genderbent Latvia-Inessa Galante, who is a Latvian singer in real life.**

**and the parts we haven't explains are puns**

**Russia**

**Russia has a different (childlike) mindset compared to other Nations, therefore he refers to other Nations in Russian. Some are fairly obviously but other may need translation, such as**

**Vengriya-Hungary**

**Baltiya-Baltics**

**Litva-Lithuania**

**Also thank you zoewinter1 for the review, however we're sorry but we can't tell you yet, keep reading to find out :D.**

**eclipsed flower: and now for that pesky disclaimer thing that seems to be required - We don't own either the Hunger Games or Hetalia**

**TheEmberGirl: From now on the chapter will be shorter because most of the backstory is done**

**Both: Enjoy!**

* * *

**Reunions of sorts**

**Seychelles**

Seychelles fiddled with a braid, wisps of brown hair beginning to escape it. She was sitting on one of the ridiculously comfy couches provided in the justice building, huddled into herself, waiting for a visitor she knew wouldn't come.

She doubted anyone was going to visit her – she had had barely any time to settle in that particular area of District 1 (she could barely remember how many times she had moved). Seychelles hadn't really been paying attention (she had been older than the age limit for the last fifty years and had tried to have nothing to do with the horrific killing game – except now she was _in _it and _what was she going to do_). No suspicions would be raised from this though, as due to some kind of incident in the past years, visitors for tributes had been restricted to one. That had made it not uncommon for tributes to sometimes have no visitors at all, as parents couldn't decide who would visit their child. Orphans were another matter.

Seychelles had been America when the riots had broken out. After being hit with a tsunami, Seychelles had been left almost broken, the after effects severe and terrible. She had ended up in America, asking for his favour, and when the riots started, America went into lockdown, consequently trapping her in a nation that wasn't her own. She had been listless and ill, and completely useless when Panem rose and America fell. Seychelles couldn't (didn't want to) remember much of what happened after. Being away from her own country while it was in need gave her a nauseous feeling she never wanted to remember. Somehow her people had pulled through by themselves and she had been lucky enough to escape Panem's radar, he'd overlooked her islands during his initial conquest of the world (this was unsurprising as her lands were small and not far off from the ruins of what once was mainland Africa). During the Panem's conquest, she could still feel the desperation of her people, but that had faded, along with her awareness of anything, really.

When she woke up however, she was surprised to find that her people had somehow survived, and she'd retained her immortality, but that was short lived. A few years after the district were set up, her island were discovered by Panem, who'd been searching around the wasteland continents for somewhere to set up a base for monitoring whether District 13 was safe for use again. Seychelles had felt it as her people were evicted from their islands and when any of them suspected to be _her _were killed. After weeks of feeling as though her insides were burning, the pain subsided and she realised that while she hadn't died, her immortality was lost.

A familiar burning sensation in her eyes brought her out of her daze. Looking for split-ends in her hair was far too soothing and allowed her thoughts to stray, and Seychelles really didn't want to think too much about the past. Her eyes wandered, examining the over indulgent furniture and decorations. It had been a long time since she had been faced with such flamboyant display of wealth.

Movement from the window caught her gaze, and turning in her chair, Seychelles peered out the window. There seemed to be a shadow darting across the grounds, making its way for the Justice Building. Abandoning her chair altogether, Seychelles squinted to see that it was-_America? How had he gotten out? _But no, upon closer inspection, the eyes were a completely different colour and the cowlick was in a different place. It took her a few embarrassing moments to recognize the shadow as Canada, who she seen earlier that morning, and by that time he had disappeared up the steps into the building, presumably to visit America.

Seychelles collapsed back onto her chair, letting a slow breath out. She wasn't alone in this. They would figure something out. Not just about their current situation, but Panem as well. Just the thought of him made her shudder, and caused phantom pains to burn through her insides.

**Liechtenstein**

The most unnerving thing of all, Liechtenstein thought, was that Big Brother Switzerland no longer smelled of gunpowder and metal. But the most important thing of all was how he alive he smelled, the subtle scent of sweat, and the feel of his familiar, strong, protective body and how _warm_ he was. When Liechtenstein had first woken up from the blast that had led her to miss out on the rest of the war (but nothing really mattered after Big Brother Switzerland fell – he had wanted her to be strong, to _survive_, _and he was back now, just as he had promised_ no matter how fake the promise might have been when it was originally given), everything had felt so cold and alien, the world snatched from beneath her feet, Liechtenstein lost in a limbo where she wasn't a Nation, wasn't a human, something different (_alien_). With Big Brother Switzerland back, the world had righted itself.

'Liech,' he said so softly it was almost a whisper.

'Big Brother,' she whispered back through a smile so wide it almost hurt, her vision blurry as she nestled into his worn jacket.

Loosening his tight embrace, Switzerland had none of his usual blush colouring his cheeks and Liechtenstein felt ridiculously unbalanced by it. It had been fifty years, of course people, _Nations _were subject to change, she shouldn't have felt so affected, but it was _Big Brother Switzerland_.

Liechtenstein had about a million questions that she wanted to ask, but through the entire time of holding tightly to his hand when he had been reaped, when they had been separated in the justice building despite vehement protests, they hadn't had anytime alone to simply remember what it was like to be near each other again. They had plenty of time to talk on the train ride ahead (_the train ride to their deaths_, the pessimistic part of her which had risen in the absence of Nations of any kind, whispered).

Any doubts were wiped away when she spotted the small smile on Switzerland's lips.

But the euphoria of their reunion didn't last long, as the train rumbled softly beneath their feet before giving a loud screech and Liechtenstein stumbled, but Switzerland held her in place, and Liechtenstein was jarringly reminded that this wasn't the picture perfect reunion that she had imagined and that they were being forced into a killing game.

Switzerland led them over a pair of couches facing each other. Liechtenstein could see a TV in the corner, and for a moment considered turning it on to see what "competition" they were going to be faced, but the idea of seeing the faces of the other tributes was too much. It would only serve to remind her of their current situation, and she didn't want to see what sort of innocent souls had been chosen to be sent into the lion's den.

Switzerland taking a breath in brought her back from the potentially thorny road that her thoughts were going down.

'As much as I hate playing by Panem's rules…it seems we're trapped,' Switzerland shrugged, looking clearly uncomfortable.

'The one rule we both need to abide by is not to trust anyone else, at all,' he said with a fierce look in his eyes.

Liechtenstein flinched at his harsh tone, and noticing this, Switzerland added, 'But don't worry too much about this Liech, I'll protect you. We're in this together, don't forget.'

Liechtenstein shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She didn't want to remember any of the previous footage of the Hunger Games that she had been exposed to. The raw brutality was unnerving, and the show of desperate desire to live was terrifying. It only served to remind her that only _one_ of them was going to come out of this alive – she didn't want to lose Big Brother Switzerland so quickly after only just recovering him. And how were they going to hide how different they were from normal humans? There were just so many uncertainties (_why couldn't things just be simpler_).

'I don't want to lose you just after getting you back,' she said quietly, fists clenched on her lap.

Switzerland's expression immediately softened. He gripped her hands, and Liechtenstein let him knead them loose.

'You're going to get through this,' Switzerland said, attempting to reassure her.

But Liechtenstein spotted the gap in his words – did that mean he wasn't? Because there was no she would be able to function with him. She wouldn't be able to deal if he was ripped away from her again another time.

'_We're_ going to get through this,' she said firmly.

Switzerland studied her for a few moments, ducking his head hesitantly. 'Don't worry Liech, your Big Brother's here for you, he'll take care of things,' Switzerland almost stammered out, and Liechtenstein smiled at the subtle hints of a blush on his cheeks.

It made her feel impossibly warm inside, but there was still the ever-present sinking feeling that Big Brother Switzerland was going to do something drastic like sacrifice himself or something equally ridiculous. But it had been too long since she had had felt this particular brand of Big Brother Switzerland's worry warted-ness and it made her immeasurably happy to have the chance experience it again, she would never tell him, but she appreciated the smothering, not always the act, especially not in this context, but it showed that he cared enough to try.

It was almost reassuring to know that it was the two of them against the world again.

**Taiwan**

Taiwan zoned out as their mentors (Mouse Cable and Esbee Port) gave them a long and boring speech on what they should do while watching the recaps of the reapings. _Why can't we just watch them, it won't make any difference, I'm not sure if I can kill anyone…_

Turning her mind away from these grim ideas, Taiwan thought back to what happened at the Justice Building.

She hadn't been expecting any visitors, so she was doubly surprised when the Peacekeeper escorted Hong Kong into the room, before leaving to give them some privacy.

'Hong Kong?' she had asked, almost in a daze.

'That's my name, don't wear it out,' Hong Kong replied with a smirk reminiscent of the one he used to wear while setting off fireworks behind China's back. _It definitely was him_.

'How'd you get in?'

'Easy, the official way. I saw you and China at the reapings and decided to see you two off, after all I thought you were dead the last fifty years. Then just outside the Justice Building I ran into Korea-'

'Korea!?'

'Yes Korea, he's probably harassing his "Aniki" at the moment. Now are you going to let me finish,' Hong Kong asked impatiently.

'I'm sorry,' Taiwan replied. 'I was just too excited, please continue.'

Obviously happy to have an intent audience, Hong Kong did as she asked.

'As I said, I ran into Korea and he insisted on seeing China, so we decided to go in posing as brothers who are cousins of you and China, who are also cousins. Get it? Keep that cover story, it'll explain why China volunteered for you when your names are different.'

'Oh,' Taiwan was overwhelmed by all this information, and she looked back at Hong Kong to see that his face had suddenly turned solemn.

'There's another thing I want to tell you about. When Korea and I bumped into each other, we didn't come straight in to see you. We began to _talk_.'

Taiwan didn't get it.

'About what,' she'd asked.

'About _rebellion _of course! Think about it, me, you, China and now Korea, not to mention seeing Seychelles, America, Liechtenstein and Switzerland on the screens as well too. Who knows how many of us are out there, how many _Nations _are out there. They're all probably thinking the same way, but why just _think _about it when we can _do something_.' Hong Kong's eyes glittered fervently.

'Be careful,' was all Taiwan could think to say.

'No. You be careful. Both of you. Survive. We'll start a rebellion and get you out of the arena. Every other Nation who isn't in the Games is sure to join us. Everyone is sick of Panem.' His expression changed again.

'And besides, stupid Panem didn't mention _me _in his stupid Treaty of Treason.'

The Peacekeepers came in to announce it was time to board the train then, and while he was escorted out, Hong Kong turned around to yell 'Take care!' again.

Taiwan was dragged back into the present by the sound of China turning the television on.

'Mei mei, come sit down,' he said.

'Shouldn't it be _biao mei _now?' Taiwan couldn't resist asking. China didn't reply, his attention focused onto the television screen. Taiwan sighed and did the same.

The more she watched the more she believed in Hong Kong's talk of rebellion as more and more Nations showed up on the screen. When the recap finally ended, Taiwan turned to China.

'Korea talked to you about rebellion didn't he?'

China gave a slight nod of confirmation. Taiwan took this as a cue to continue.

'I think it might just work.'

**Sweden**

Sweden and Finland sat next to each other on the train, waiting for their so-called "mentors" to arrive, a net of silence cast over them. Sweden wasn't really bothered by it. It gave him time to figure out what was to be said, and simply time for him to _look_ at Finland. He still dwarfed over him- her, he reminded himself sharply. Sweden had no idea how he was supposed to react to the strange change. He found himself wondering whether or not it was possible even possible, but Finland seemed to be pretty feminine so maybe there wasn't much to wonder about after all.

Besides, none of that matters, because Finland has always been stunning and adorable. Gender has never mattered to Sweden anyway. Finland will always be his "wife". They're Nations – gender is not something that Sweden finds important.

The thought of Nations, however, makes him think of less straight-forward things. After the show of the overwhelming amount of nations during the reaping, Sweden suspected that while most likely stripped of their previous invincibility like him, the Nations hadn't been destroyed when Panem had somehow managed to take over the world. To this day, even with how long

But the sudden appearance of that many nations just made things more complicated. Especially considering the fact that they were all being sent off to participate in a game of death.

'M'wife,' Sweden began, trying not to burn holes into his wife with his intense stare.

Finland almost jumped, straightening up from where he- she had been leaning against Sweden's side and Sweden was tempted to pull her back against him, to feel Finland's chest rising up and down, the feeling of Finland _alive_. Sweden had thought they had gotten past the whole scared animal thing, no matter how adorable it was. It was nice to know that some things didn't change, no matter how much time had passed. Fifty years was a long time. But that didn't explain why Finland had turned into _a woman._

'D'you know why you're,' Sweden made a wide gesture, encompassing Finland's overwhelming, well, femaleness.

Finland folded her arms across her chest and Sweden realized that his eyes had been straying to that area.

'I just woke up like this,' Finland said hesitantly.

Sweden struggled to Finland's words, and pushed his glasses up his nose awkwardly. 'Y-you look nice,' he said falteringly and Finland blushed.

A sudden sound made them both jump and Sweden realised his arm had brushed a button and turned the television on. Finland reached to turn it off but not before a scene from yet another recap of the reapings filled their eyes.

'What are we going to do? What's going to happen now? Most of them are our friends, and even if they weren't they're still _Nations_ how can we kill them.' Finland whimpered.

The exact thoughts had run through his mind several times, every time he'd imagined sacrificing himself to save Finland, Sweden had run into the dilemma of there having to only be the two of them left to do that. Would he kill the others? _Could _he kill the others? Sweden still didn't know, but at least none of their brothers were in the Games. He sneaked a glance towards Finland

Tears had welled up in Finland's eyes and Sweden sat, frozen, rendered motionless by the sight of them. He made an aborted movement with his arm, hating how useless he felt. Sweden didn't like making reassurances that he knew would be lies, but he had always had this overwhelming desire to protect and shield Finland, even though he knew that Finland was capable of taking care of herself.

Finland seemed to see Sweden's inner conflict and gave Sweden a tremulous smile. Finland had always been like that, able to read and interpret what Sweden was trying to say without actually having to say it. In return, Sweden felt the hard-lines of his face soften, and tried to return the smile, no matter how awkwardly. Finland reached for his hands and Sweden ducked behind his fringe, feeling his ears burn, and Finland chuckled.

No matter how much has changed, some things were still the same.

(They almost didn't see the mentors coming.)

* * *

**eclipsed flower: We do 'ope you 'njoy'd**

**TheEmberGirl: Next chapter is for me to write, and with a valentines day fic on the to do list as well, it's gonna be a busy week of me**

**Before I forget I better put in the notes for this chapter:**

**you've probably figured this out but;**

**Mei mei-little/younger sister**

**Biao mei- (younger female) cousin (Chinese is specific like that)**

**as for when Sweden says he's glad none of their brothers are in the Games, yes he is referring to the Nordics. I know that Iceland denies that he's Norway's brother and I'm not sure if the rest is really related, but here it's just used to signify closeness.**

**eclipsed flower: We apologize for any lateness in advance - school has been getting pretty heavy D;**

**TheEmberGirl: Not really, it's just your fault you didn't realise you had to do Methods earlier. Anyways-**

**Both: Seeya next week! (And don't forget to review!)**


	6. Stylists, arguments and a Parade

**A/N**

**eclipsed flower: ****Yooo, nice to know that you're reading this line ;3**

**TheEmberGirl: And we have one awesome (Prussia-level-awesome) dedicated reviewer who-**

**eclipsed flower: Whoa there. We get reviews?**

**TheEmberGirl: ...a few. But here's our reply!**

**zoewinter1: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR STAYING WITH US. TheEmberGirl (who was writing this chapter) is having a pretty stressful week, and your reviews have been keeping her going, so thank you very much. AND YES LET'S THIS DOWN**

**TheEmberGirl: School. Writing. Life. *****dead* **

**eclipsed flower: Reviews really do a lot for us (especially TheEmberGirl; this fic being her baby and all ;3) so we would be delighted to get some. HINTHINT. Very subtle.**

**Disclaimer: The owners of APH and HG seem to be pretty happy. We only wish that we could be that happy.**

* * *

**Stylists, arguments and a Parade**

**Austria**

After finally being allowed to put her robe back on, Austria rolled her eyes as her stylist lamented over the roughness of her hands. _He makes it sound like I made them rough on purpose, why would I do that? I'm a pianist. _She sighed as he made her stick her hands into a bowl of foul smelling lotion._ So much for polite conversation once I got here._ Austria had spent the entire train journey ignoring England, after all it was _his _stupid plan that failed and caused her to lose Hungary, and _his _magic that turned her into a woman.

As she was told to put her feet into the same bowl, Austria wondered where Hungary was, _and Germany too I suppose._ She vaguely remembered England exclaiming something about them while watching the television on the train.

The answer occurred to her as the lotion was being wiped off, _oh no, they're here as well..._As much as she wanted to see Hungary again, here was not the place. _This is the Hunger Games, there can only be one Victor._ One or both of them would have to die.

Austria couldn't quite remember how she'd lost Hungary, she only remembered waking up to a conquered world, as a female, lacking memories and feeling an instinctive need to hide. As her memories returned she knew she had to search for Hungary, a demanding feat for her unaging, but otherwise mortal body. After searching throughout what was now District 5, Austria had come to the conclusion that Hungary was either dead, or in another District (she had always preferred to believe in the latter).

By now the stylist was praising his own work, _look how soft your skin is now_, _how it glows_. _All those disgusting knots in your hair are gone, and now it's sleek and shiny._ so on and so on. It was all Austria could do not to scoff, _when I was still immortal, I looked much better than you could ever make me look. _

She was, however, impressed when her costume was revealed, a tight dark blue full length gown with long sleeves that flowed at the ends. _With inspiration from District 5's traditional clothing._ Not that Austria knew what that meant; she'd never paid attention to what the other people wore. The fabric of the dress was the most important thing as Austria hadn't seen such soft fabric for nearly a century. Especially not fabric that shimmered like that, and gave off holographic sparks like electricity. She didn't even complain when the stylist jabbed her several times while arranging the dress on her.

After that, her hair was styled, several sections braided before being allowed to flow down her back, and glittery blue makeup put all over her face. Austria was slightly disgusted at first, but the mirror showed her that the stylist knew what he was doing and the effect was decent.

When England and his stylist came into the room, Austria suddenly felt extremely smug; England had gotten the worst end of the deal. His costume, made out of the same material as hers, was a hideously oversized tunic worn over tights. He too was wearing blue makeup, however, Austria had to admit that didn't look to bad. If the stylists could get anything right, it was makeup.

Finally it was time to get on the chariot, and the stylist went outside to make sure the horses' manes were decorated to his liking, and came back in with a sour expression.

'President Snow has decided it would be more spectacular to hold the parade at sunset,' the stylist spat. 'How will anyone see the brilliance of my designs in the dark?'

Looking over "his designs", the stylist's expression softened.

'I suppose it isn't your fault,' he said to the two tributes and Austria once again scoffed mentally, _of course it isn't my fault, do you think I even _want _to be here_?

'There's still a few hours until sunset, so I guess the two of you can just talk.'

_No thank you. _After giving him the cold shoulder since the reapings, Austria was not about to start talking with England any time soon. As she expected, England tried to start a conversation with her as soon as the stylists left the room. Austria ignored him and made a pretext of studying her nails, polished to a brilliant shine. She might be stuck here with England for the next month before entering the arena, but at least her hands were soft again.

**Italy**

Italy looked at his brother, _no sister - _he really had to get used to thinking of Romano as his sister - contemplatively. They were waiting for sunset, when the tribute parade would finally start. Romano was wearing a costume that matched his own; a bright yellow jumpsuit with a black checkerboard pattern around the waist - the stylists had said it was meant to represent the black and yellow chequered stripe that identified Capitol hovercraft.

'Sorella…?' Italy said slowly, sounding the word out over his tongue.

'What!' Romano snapped back.

'I was wondering—'

'You do that too much,'

Italy's eyes stung, Romano saw and sighed.

'Alright, go ahead and ask. Just no questions about this.' She gestured at her female figure.

'I was wondering what we should do now, with so many of _us _here.'

Romano's reply was instant:

'We don't trust them, we_ can'_t trust them. This is the _Hunger Games_.'

'But Big Brother France said—'

'I don't care what that Wine Bastard said!'

'Sorella, didn't Big Brother Spain talk to you about doing something about Panem too?

'Don't talk to me about the Tomato Bastard! He's an idiot and he's going to _die _if he tries something stupid like that!' Romano practically shrieked. Not sensing how close to tears she sister was, Italy pressed on:

'What about Germany, we can trust _him_, _right_?'

'The Potato Bastard! No way in hell! Why did he volunteer, huh? Probably so he can _kill us all!_' Romano's voice was on the edge of hysteria.

Italy frowned at those words.

'Germany wouldn't—'

'_Don't talk about the Potato Bastard either!'_

Romano's face had turned red, or would be if Italy could actually see her skin under all the face paint.

'Then what can I talk about?' he asked, confounded.

'Just keep your stupid mouth shut!'

Romano's words stung as they always did when he (she) got angry, and tears streamed out of Italy's eyes of their own volition.

'Mi dispiace, sorella,' he hiccuped and was met with a glare from Romano.

'Stop that! Or you'll smudge your face paint and the stylists will drag you back in there to reapply it.'

'Oh right...' Italy rubbed all the tears from his face, which only smudged the black and yellow wedges further. His stylist, who heard Romano's yelling and came to check on them, picked up on this immediately, and just as Romano had said, dragged him back into the preparation room to reapply it.

'What happened?' the nice stylist who'd introduced herself as Pulchra asked. Italy liked her name. It reminded him of the stories his Grandpa Rome used to tell him.

'My sister got angry at me,' he told her, forgetting what Romano had said about not trusting anyone

'What for? Wait, I saw the footage of the reaping, she really didn't want you to volunteer. Is she still angry about that?'

Italy nodded dumbly, Romano had never said it but he knew she was mad, and the situation with their Big Brothers and Germany only made it worse, but he didn't think he could explain that that to Pulchra.

On a second thought he added, 'She thinks I'm too weak.'

'Well,' Pulchra said sympathetically, 'think of it this way - not all of the previous Victors won because of strength.'

Despite her kind intentions, her words only made Italy feel worse. He didn't want to be the Victor. Not if it meant surviving through everyone's deaths.

**Lithuania**

Lithuania shivered, not because his costume was sleeveless and thin; no, he was used to the cold after years of living with Russia and besides, the temperature of the room was controlled, just like everything else in the Capitol. He shivered because of the frosty glare Belarus kept directing towards him. The glare was as bone chilling as any of General Winter's winds.

Lithuania had always thought Belarus was pretty, (especially now in her dappled green shift, despite the fact that she'd been dyed green as well), and perhaps after all these years she was slightly more reachable. However aa was not the case. Belarus was as adoring of Russia was she always was, she hadn't - and now that she had seen that Russia was alive - _wouldn't _ give up on him. She even hated Lithuania more now, just because he wasn't Russia, and that he was beside her while Russia wasn't.

Lithuania worked up his courage to talk to her:

'Umm Miss Belarus,' he said tentatively. Belarus didn't say anything turning away from him.

'Err I was going to ask you to please stop staring at me,' Lithuania continued nervously. 'But as you've looked away…' he trailed off lamely and was rewarded with silence.

Minutes passed and a spine crawling sound entered Lithuania's ears; Belarus had started chanting a mantra under her breath.

_BigBrotherBigBrotherBigBrotherBigBrotherBigBrotherBigBrotherBigBrotherBigBrother_

Alternated with

_Marrymemarrymemarrymemarrymemarrymemarrymemarrymemarrymemarryme_

and

_RussiaRussiaRussiaRussiaRussiaRussiaRussiaRussiaRussiaRussiaRussiaRussia_

After a while Lithuania couldn't take it anymore. It was just _too _creepy.

'Miss Belarus, could you maybe stop—'

This time Belarus did reply:

'_What. Do. You. Want?' _her every word was sharply punctuated. 'You keep disturbing me while I mind my own business.'

'Maybe we could hold a normal conversation?' Lithuania himself wasn't even sure where that came from, it was move like Latvia to blurt things out impulsively. Cringing from the violence he knew soon would come, Lithuania waited for Belarus to respond. He was surprised when she didn't even screech at him, instead looking slightly amused.

'So, you want to talk? About what? My Big Brother?'

'Err, maybe not Miss Belarus.' Lithuania felt uncomfortable at the idea of talking about Russia

'Why not? Why wouldn't you want to talk about wonderful Big Brother Russia?' Belarus demanded, an aura of danger emanating from her. Lithuania gulped and searched around for an excuse.

'I-it it isn't nice to talk about someone when they're not around...' he managed to gasp out, hoping it would save him. Belarus considered his answer.

'You're right, it wouldn't be nice. And I wouldn't want it to get around that I wasn't nice to Big Brother Russia.' she said looking into the distance. 'Thank you,' she added as an afterthought, giving Lithuania a smile that lit up her frosty face. However this was such a rare occurrence that it slightly scared Lithuania. Silence followed after that. Belarus didn't seem to have anything that wasn't about Russia to say, and Lithuania found his thoughts drifting towards something he'd rather avoid.

_Poland_. Lithuania had seen him when Belarus turned on the train television to "examine the opposition", Belarus herself had shrieked when she saw Russia on the screens and vowed to protect him. Lithuania himself had just felt unease, Poland was his closest friend, even though they'd been separated in the war against Panem. What was he doing? Why did he volunteer? While it was true that Lithuania had volunteered to follow Belarus, he was sure Poland had no such feelings towards if Poland did, what chance did he have when Hungary - who even before the war was seldom seen without her ex-husband - was now to be reunited with Austria. Bitter laughter filled his mind. What chance did they all have when they were to be entered into an arena of death?

Lithuania was glad when his dark thoughts were interrupted by the stylists informing them it was nearly sunset; time to get onto the chariot.

As he stood next to a once again glaring Belarus on the chariot, Lithuania braced himself; the Games would soon begin, and who knew how long, he Belarus, Poland, Russia or anyone were going to survive.

**Poland**

_This outfit is like totally unfabulous._ Poland grimaced at the tight-fitting, modified Peacekeeper uniform he was wearing. He and Hungary's outfits had been modified to be more shape defining and "sexy" as many in the Capitol hoped to marry Peacekeepers. The costume was wrong on too many levels. Poland hated the ironically named Peacekeepers. They were the oppressive force Panem used against anyone he viewed as an enemy, and reminded him of another oppressive force from a long time ago.

The horses began to move and Poland yelped, nearly jolted off the chariot. Hungary immediately grabbed his hand.

'Can't have you falling off,' she said sternly. Hungary had been like that since she'd seen Austria and the other members of the Alliance. Poland figured that she'd spent a long time searching for Austria - or just any other Nation at all - and didn't want to lose anyone again. Not that he could blame her - Poland himself had ended up in what was now the unfabulous District 8 because he'd wanted to find Lithuania, but unfortunately his sense of direction was like not the best and he'd missed Lithuania's lands by a totally far distance. He looked forward to catching up with Liet soon though, even though a sense of dread was beginning to set in.

Now that he was certain he wouldn't fall off the chariot, Poland began to take in what the others were wearing, barely holding in his laughter when he saw some of their expressions. Like him most of them were wearing makeup, but while his and Hungary's only highlighted their features, most of the others were overwhelmingly garish. Poland looked at the other male Nations, a few like Russia and Italy seems completely happy about their makeup, others such as England simply just didn't care, but the funniest were the ones who looked completely uncomfortable; such as...Germany.

His expression was totally hilarious.

Poland couldn't stopped his sniggers this time, Hungary gave him a curious look, so he nudged her in the direction of the District 12 chariot. Hungary was torn about defending her ally but broke down into giggle moments later.

The chariots moved into the well lit City Center and Poland could now fully examine the costumes, something he'd been itching to do as he'd always loved fashion. In the lead chariot, America and Seychelles wore matching white tunics trimmed in gold, Seychelles's flowing gold sleeves and America's golden cloak were especially eye catching. Their costumes were adorned with glittering gems, even with their somewhat out of place District tokens (America's glasses and Seychelles's ribbons) the roar from the crowd wasn't surprising.

Liechtenstein and Switzerland wore black and red jaggedly cut costumes designed to be intimidating, but neither that, heavy red makeup nor even the red streaks in her hair could make Liechtenstein look scary. _Where is her ribbon?_ Poland wondered before noticing it was tied to her arm. The third chariot entered the light and his attention was drawn to it's passengers.

China and Taiwan wore flashy silver jumpsuits covered with fluro coloured geometric shapes. It was totally fabulous. Especially with their hair styled with the wires their District manufactured.

Finland and Sweden wore costumes in the colours of the sea; from the seafoam, to the deepest ocean, and were decorate with seaweed. Sweden's arm was draped around Finland's shoulders, which drew a gasp of surprise from the Capitol audience.

As the chariot carrying Austria and England was pulled into the light, Poland caught a glimpse of tears in Hungary's eyes. Poland wasn't sure why; Austria made a very pretty girl and her dress was amazing. Perhaps Hungary was just disgusted by England's ugly tunic.

The two Italies also drew a gasp from the crowd, Romano had grabbed her brothers hand and raised their arms into the air in an open show of defiance. Poland admired this action but cringed at the bright yellow jumpsuits. _They are like a total eyesore!_

As the next chariot entered the circle,Poland finally saw the outfit he was looking for. Lithuania was dress in a leaf tunic, and he looked as nice as usual, despite the green dye the stylists had used on him. Beside him Belarus was in a similar costume, and desperately trying to look for something, _probably Russia_, Poland supposed.

Their chariot was next, and once again Poland felt disgust as the crowd cheered them on, didn't they realise what the Peacekeepers did in the Districts?

Thankfully it was over soon enough, and Poland turned to view the pair behind him. Vietnam and Thailand wore flowing white robes embroidered with golden thread in the shape of the grain plants grown in their District, and both of them also wore woven grain wreaths on their heads. Thailand's arm was linked around Vietnam's, causing another stream of whispering in the crowd.

Poland snorted again when he saw the next costumes. While Latvia looked as cute as usual in a goose costume, Russia just looked totally ridiculous. The snort threatened to become full blown laughter until Hungary's elbow to the ribs warned him to quiet down.

Greece and Belgium's costumes were, like, kinda plain. Overalls made out of denim, or in Belgium's case, an overall dress, were boring and unfabulous.

Strangely, the crowd's cheering grew louder when the last chariot was drawn into the circle, _that's never happened before_. Poland soon found out the reason for the crowd's reaction. Somehow District 12 had ended up with decent stylists this year and although Germany and Monaco were wearing the baggy orange coveralls that miners of that District wore on a daily basis, they were belted in the right places and paired with heavy black boots.

As the chariots once again moved out of the Center Circle, the thought that Poland had managed to block since the reapings finally crept into his mind.

_Only one of us can make it out of the Arena alive._

**Japan**

'Have you altered the force field around the arena so that there are multiple weak points in it?'

'Yes, I'm also altering the trackers so that we can deactivate them at anytime.'

'Wow, you really do manage to think ahead of everything, Japan. Apart from putting their favoured weapons in the Cornucopia, is there anything else I should do?'

'Not yet, Estonia.' Japan paused then added. 'On a second thought, I think we should hide extra supplies and weapons throughout the Arena.'

'What kind of weapons?' Estonia asked, catching onto Japan's train of thought.

'Weapon's not intended for use inside the Arena, but rather, against Panem.' Japan smiled, before turning wistful. 'We can only hope they survive long enough to use them, with some of the strongest relying mostly on modern weapons...'

Estonia didn't need to ask to know that Japan was worrying about his friend Germany, and immediately changed the subject.

'How about we put censors on all the microphones as well, in case someone slips up and forgets to use the aliases?'

**Panem  
**Panem grinned sadistically as he watched the Tribute Parade from his window. How wonderful, another year, and another 23 mortals to die interesting deaths.

_Its a bit of a shame, _Panem contemplated, _humans are just so fragile, they don't quite put up the same fight as the Nations I defeated did_.

Then again, that was why they fought each other, not him. Blood was still blood, after all.

A few of the tributes caught his eye, they seemed..._familiar._

Panem easily brushed it off, he must have seen them, or their siblings at previous reapings, after all, did he not ensure that those who'd had siblings in previous Games had double the chance of being reaped?

Panem closed the blind and step away from the window. He had a feeling that this year's Hunger Games would be quite interesting.

* * *

**eclipsed flower: We do hope you enjoyed! This is the blood, sweat, and tears of TheEmberGirl, which probably explains why she's dead in that corner over there coughyouknowwhatmightwakehercough**

**Please do review ;3**

**eclipsed flower: Oh, hey, I think I found her dying message. Something about...training and ooh, and people actually talking to each other.**


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